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Millions of Americans find that they need a little help managing their credit. A credit management debt consolidation company can be your guide and helper through the process of getting yourself on firm financial footing. Fixing your credit could be the first step to moving forward with your life. You can stop irritating collection calls for good, get a monthly debt servicing payment that you can afford, and start rebuilding your credit score, even if you have bad credit.

If you choose to consolidate your debt, you can achieve great things. The choice is yours.

What Happens When You Consolidate Your Debt

Debt management programs from a company like CreditGuard of America aren’t only for credit cards. It is also for personal loans, store cards, business loans and other forms of unsecured loans. If you are not sure if your loan qualifies for consolidation, call a credit counselor. When you consolidate your debt, all of these unsecured loans are “bundled” together in a credit management service. The company manages this bundle and pays monthly payments to all of your creditors. All you have to do is pay an affordable monthly payment to the credit management provider every month.

Keep in mind that consolidation doesn’t involve any new debts. If you find a credit management service that asks you to take out a new loan, turn around and find someone else. A new loan might harm your credit score, which is undesirable when you are trying to fix your financial situation. Instead, you want a credit management provider who will simply service all of your debts. This way you don’t accidentally forget to pay them or otherwise harm your credit score. Just pay the one monthly payment, and your credit score will go up.

Credit management services work with you to find a monthly payment amount that works for your family’s budget. They negotiate with creditors to lower your monthly payments and interest rates to a level that you can afford. After a free initial consultation with a credit counselor, you will agree on a monthly payment that you can afford. Each client is different, and your counselor will work with you and your unique household needs to consolidate your debt.

Getting Educated

You will have to manage your finances for the rest of your life. For this reason, it is important to learn money management skills like budgeting, expense tracking, identifying bad loans and understanding common pitfalls. Your credit counselor will help you and answer any questions you might have regarding the debt consolidation process as well as any other financial concerns you might have. He or she will also provide emotional support through what might feel like a challenging time in your life.

Get Out Of Debt Today

You don’t have to be concerned by collection calls any more once you sign up for debt consolidation. All of your old debts can be put behind you and rolled up into one single, affordable monthly payment. Credit counselors are on your side. Sign up today!

If you are making more than one credit account payment a month, you are not alone. Many people reached their credit limits on one credit card account only to begin using a second or even a third card in its place. They also reached the limit on these other accounts and are required to make the minimum payments every month. With a large amount of interest being added to the balances, it can be difficult to accomplish this goal. If you find this scenario to be familiar, you need debt relief.

Making several payments that are too high for you causes stress every month. You worry about how you will pay these bills and buy groceries and pay for your kids’ activities. This anxiety prevents you from sleeping at night and keeps you from enjoying your life. In this instance, the debt relief that you seek is called “debt consolidation.”

Why Consolidate Your Debts?

If you have your debts consolidated, you won’t have to pay each creditor individually. You will make one monthly payment to your debt consolidator, and the debt consolidator will pay each of your creditors. The amount that you pay your debt consolidator will be lower than the total amount you are paying right now, so re-paying your debts will be much more affordable for you.

How Debt Consolidators Make Re-Payment Easier

New York debt consolidators decrease the amount of money you pay each month by asking your creditors to lower your interest rates. If the interest rates are lower, less interest will be added to your monthly balances, so your monthly payments can be lower than they are right now.

Debt consolidators also ask your creditors to waive the late fees and penalties that were added to your balances when you found it to be impossible to pay the bills on time. This will reduce your balances and, therefore, will reduce the amount of interest that you are charged.

The Benefits of Debt Consolidators

Once you obtain debt relief through debt consolidation, you can breathe easier, but your credit score will also improve. If you have used 100 percent of your credit, your credit score is suffering because this means that you are carrying too much debt. To have the highest possible credit score, consumers should only have about 10 percent of their available credit in use at a time.

When you begin to repay your creditors through debt consolidation, your balances will be eliminated in a shorter period of time and will eventually go down to zero. At this point, you will want to make sure that you never fall into the same situation again, and your debt consolidator can help you in this area as well.

You can receive counseling in credit management along with debt relief when you begin working with a debt consolidator. With credit management, you will learn how your credit score is calculated and how you can take care of your credit so that it remains in good standing.

Realize the benefits of debt consolidation by contacting a debt consolidator today.

Consumers have been having a hard time lately. They have used their credit cards to pay for everything without the ability to pay the bills in full every month. This can mean that they have large balances on several credit cards. This scenario is not uncommon because a lot of people have lost their jobs, and they had no alternative but to use their credit cards in the manner described above. If you find yourself in this situation, you will need credit management help, and you can receive it from a debt consolidation company.

The Three Major Credit Bureaus

When you have trouble making the payments every month on your credit cards, your creditors are reporting this information to the three major credit bureaus. Every consumer has a credit report with TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, and this is where their credit histories are being stored. Your credit scores come from the information that is contained in these reports.

Your credit score is determined by several factors, and they include the following:

Payment history

Outstanding debts

Credit history

New credit

Credit in use

Your payment history is 35 percent of your credit score. If you are paying your bills late or are not making at least the minimum payment, your creditors are informing the three major credit bureaus, and your credit scores are suffering as a result. When your credit scores fall and enter the “poor” category, several unpleasant things begin to happen.

The Consequences of a Low Credit Score

With a poor credit score, lenders can turn you down for a loan. The other possibility is that you will be approved for the loan, but the lender will charge you a high interest rate. The high interest rate will make the cost of the loan much more expensive for you. Your monthly payments will be much higher because so much interest is being added to the loan. You may not be able to purchase a house, and it will be more difficult to buy insurance products for a reasonable price.

A Debt Consolidator Can Help

If your credit score is poor, you must not despair because you can learn effective credit management skills from a debt consolidator. When you consolidate credit card debt with a company like Credit Guard, you will only have to make one payment each month rather than the several that you are currently making. You will pay your debt consolidator, and the consolidator will pay your creditors what is due them each month.

Your debt consolidator will determine how much disposable income you have and will calculate an amount of money to offer your creditors. Then, the consolidator will contact every one of your creditors and ask if they can accept the amount of money that you have to offer. Once the offers are accepted, your new payment will begin, but it will go to the consolidator. After this point, your creditors will stop reporting to the credit bureaus that you are making late payments or non-payments, and your credit scores will improve.

Rather than continue to fall into debt any deeper, contact a debt consolidator for help today.

The road to freedom from your debts may seem long and arduous, and there are many obstacles and temptations along the way. If you’re serious about paying back the debt you owe, there are some things you can do to make sure you stay on track and to help you get your debt paid off in less time than you may have anticipated. What’s more, many of these steps can also help keep you on the path towards financial stability after your debts are paid, helping ensure you don’t fall prey to the same behaviors that got you into debt in the first place.

Don’t be too restrictive. It may be tempting to cut back in every area of your life and to put every spare penny towards paying back your debt, especially if you’re just starting a debt repayment plan. But, if you’re too restrictive in your spending, you may end up indulging in feel-good splurges that could push you deeper into debt. When you make your budget, try to plan for at least a little treat here and there – perhaps an inexpensive lunch out or going to a movie once a month.

Pay with cash. Just the act of reaching into your wallet and handing over cash – and seeing it disappear from your hand – can be a big motivator to prevent you from spending. Credit cards depersonalize cash, so it’s easier to spend – and easier to spend more than you would if you had only cash in your wallet.

Know what causes your need to spend. Most people have specific “trigger” items that make it difficult to avoid spending. For some, it’s a certain item like shoes or electronics. For others, it’s an emotion like sadness or boredom. Knowing what makes you want to spend can help you derail the spending process before you hand over any actual money. Ideally, look for other activities to fill the void that spending once filled. Hobbies, working out – even taking a walk or talking to a thrifty or financially smart friend can help keep you from spending.

Get advice from professionals. Paying down debt is difficult, and having someone else in your corner – someone whose efforts on your behalf can work heavily in your favor – can be a powerful motivator towards getting out of debt quickly. Use a free get out of debt calculator to clearly see the plan. Debt consolidation companies serve as go-betweens for you and your creditors, and they can take the necessary steps to get your late fees and interest rates reduced so that the amount you need to pay each month is significantly less. By setting up a monthly payment program with one payment for all your debts, debt consolidation and credit counseling companies provide you with the impetus you need to get out of debt faster and with a lot less stress.

Getting out of debt is a long, often difficult process, but the rewards at the end can be amazing: Not only will your debt be a thing of the past, but the feeling of freedom and relief from anxiety and worry makes all your repayment efforts and struggles worthwhile.

It happens to the best of us: Maybe we overlook an outstanding bill or put it in our “to-do” pile where it languishes for months. Maybe we’re having financial difficulties, and rather than call our creditors or deal in any way with our debts, we simply ignore them. No matter what the reason, at some point, that first collection letter is going to arrive, and chances are, it’s going to cause a little panic. But, instead of doing what a lot of people end up doing and just ignoring it or filing it away for “another day,” you have a much better chance of resolving your outstanding debts and dealing with your creditors if you face that collection letter – or letters – head on. Here’s how to do just that:

As noted, doing nothing about a collection letter is the best way to end up facing a world of trouble – possibly even legal action and wage garnishment. It’s already been said, but it bears repeating: Do NOT ignore a collection letter. It will NOT go away.

Don’t panic. Instead of freaking out, take a few moments to be calm, so you can deal with the debt letter with a clear mind.

Make sure you get all the information in writing. Not only is this helpful to you, it’s also required under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Under FDCPA, a collector must send you a written notice within five days of first contacting you about a debt, and that notice must include the amount of your debt, the name of the creditor and what you can do if you believe the debt is not yours.

Keep a paper file. Use it to keep copies of all the letters you receive and send, and also, keep a log of all phone conversations – including dates, names of the people with whom you speak and a synopsis of what was discussed. Save voicemails as well.

Create a paper trail. If you want to dispute a debt that you think is not yours, send a letter within 30 days of receiving their notice and pay extra for certified delivery and delivery verification.

Know your rights. Read up on FDCPA and the powerful rights it grants consumers as well as the legal restrictions it places on collectors and collection agencies.

If you’re contacted by phone, stay calm. You may want to write a brief script, so collectors understand that you know your rights and also to serve as an aid to staying on track. Be firm and don’t be forthcoming with loads of personal information. For a debt collector, this is an information-gathering opportunity, so don’t get distracted. Keep the call brief and to the point.

Take control of the debt collection process by enrolling in a credit management service or debt consolidation program. These programs use credit counselors to negotiate your debts and make it easier for you to pay them off. Credit counseling programs also usually offer tools to keep you from falling back into debt in the future.

Finding a collection letter in your mailbox is an unsettling and upsetting experience, but it doesn’t have to be. Approach it calmly and with a clear head to achieve the best results and avoid further action that could be much more serious.

Every month many unsecured loans go unpaid. Often they all are forgotten or neglected. These debts cause major strife down the road. They incur a lot of extra expenses that can take a bad problem and make it worse. These forgotten payments are typically from a second or third source of credit. A lot of people find it hard to juggle multiple debt sources. With floating unsecured sources of credit, a payment can easily be forgotten in the day to day grind. Payments are easier to manage if there is only a single bill to pay each month.

A debt consolidation program can help you keep track of your multiple debts. Consolidators do this by bringing your debts under a single payment due monthly. This act alone makes paying debts straightforward and more manageable. If you tack this on to the support provided by a consolidator, you’ll come up with a debt solution that is effective for your situation.

The support provided by a debt consolidation program is paramount for eliminating debt. This support covers both your financial and emotional needs. A debt consolidation program will provide the skills and knowledge necessary to manage your money much more reliably than debt consolidation loans. Without these skills, you would find that getting out of debt is much harder and significantly longer. The discipline to budget and plan financially is what causes the speedy fulfillment of your credit obligations. The other support that a consolidator provides is counseling for your well being. Having someone on your side during the tough times really brings peace of mind when things seem dark. Additionally, if you are having a tough time coping with debt counselors can provide emotional support to you and your family.

Overwhelming debt can happen to anybody. In this economy it is less a question of if, but rather when debt will show its ugly face. Knowing how to deal with debt is how you prevent future financing from getting out of hand.

Your college age child may be searching for credit card debt relief but is reluctant to ask for help. If you can sit down and have an honest talk with them, however, you can recommend ways for them to handle debt.

Paying More than the Minimum

More experienced cardholders know that paying more than the minimum is the only way to get out of debt at a reasonable rate. However, 41 percent of cardholders in the age group of 18 to 29 pay only the minimum monthly payment. If they owe a lot on their cards, they will soon find themselves deeply in debt.

Surprised at Amount of Debt

One third of all college students don’t discuss their credit card debt with their parents. This group is also more likely to use their cards, and is usually surprised at how much debt they have accumulated. If you have never discussed your college student’s use of debt with them, now is the time to start.

How You Can Help

If you want to help a young cardholder get out of debt, first remember that they need to learn how to manage their money effectively. The use of credit cards is a great way to build up a positive credit score if they are managed properly. Your role as the parent is to help them understand why a credit card is not a license to live above your means.

Debt Consolidation

When discussing debt with your older child, you may find out they are already deeply entrenched in debt. In this situation, you should recommend a debt consolidation. This method can lower the interest rate they pay on without having to take out another loan or do a balance transfer.

When your child is in college or no longer living at home, your role as a parent shifts to that of an advisor. Simply give them options for credit card debt relief that you know will work for them. By advising only and not jumping in to fix things for them, you are teaching them a valuable lesson about money and debt that will stick with them for years.